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Vellamo
Vellamo is a siren who dwells in Coddler's Cave in Devilfish Strait. She has a very compelling and beautiful voice and can fool people's senses with her magic, using her melodic songs of power to enthrall and catch her prey. She was responsible for kidnapping Unithien Earthhaven and bringing her to her lair in Devilfish Strait in hopes of using her and other artifacts to shatter the Eye of Thunder and save the unhatched sirens' lifeforce from being leeched by the Eye. This act led her into a confrontation with a fellowship sent from Shipwreck Cove, but she and most of the pirates eventually came to understand one another's point of view and worked together for the remainder of the Battle of Devilfish Strait. After she and the siren eggs were freed from the Eye of Thunder, Vellamo chose to stay behind in the cave to look after the young sirens once they hatched. Biography Early Years Vellamo is a mysterious, alluring creature from a race of sirens, thought to be the only one of her kind...at least if old tales were to be believed. A song called "Siren's Lullaby" found its way into the old Lebenslied songbook, and a legend of the dangers and guile of the siren survive in the tales of sailors and pirates to the present day although accounts tend to conflict with one another. "Siren's Lullaby", a song found in the Lebenslied song book, is reportedly an incomplete transcript of one of the siren songs although the author warns against performing the song due to the dangerous effects it may have on those listening to it. Vellamo knew siren songs quite well and used them to her advantage. Vellamo claims to have once been so beautiful that Emperor Nootaikok, leader of the Merrow Empire, came to desire her so much that he had an affair with her behind Empress Nerrivik's back despite the sirens and merrows having been enemies. The Emperor took Vellamo's bastard daughter for himself and left the songstress to die, which made Vellamo bitter and angry at merrows who had by that time all but wiped out most of the sirens save a cluster of eggs that survived the purging deep in Devilfish Strait in Yamato. The Eye of Thunder, a magical gem containing a powerful entity, was placed within the cave. Although its power allowed Vellamo and the unhatched sirens to remain unseen by the vigilant merrows, it also had a downside: the Eye in its hunger and desire to gain freedom, began leeching on the lifeforce of the sirens. This prompted Vellamo to sing songs of power to satisfy the Eye's desire for magic in exchange for sparing the lives of the hatchlings but also had a heavy toll on her body which began withering from the Eye's leeching as a result. Godslayer Era Planning a Heist Although Vellamo was a sworn cleric of Tiamat and had promised to keep the goddess's Sanctum of Waves hidden from the rest of the world, she feared for the safety of the hatchlings when the Eye's power made her weaker and weaker each passing year. In desperation, she opened herself to the voice within the Eye who instructed her to use forbidden blood magic to gaze into the Pool of Radiance. The Voice proposed a deal: help shatter the Eye to free the entity within, and in exchange the entity would never bother the sirens ever again. Knowing what she was doing was wrong but realizing that staying adamant could lead to the death of all sirens, Vellamo agreed to the plan and used the visions seen in the Pool of Radiance to locate the people and artifacts of power needed to shatter the Eye of Thunder and release the entity. She sent one of her pet sea serpents, Tizheruk, to kidnap two of the needed people, Unithien Greyrain and Gilgamesh, from Shipwreck Cove, in which the serpent succeeded. Vellamo then began plotting to get her hands on the last remaining artifact, the sword Dusk, which was wielded by Marcus Sarillius who had also been present at the Cove. The siren was glad to see that Marcus joined other Blue Dragon pirates in search for Unithien and sent her serpent to steal the sword from him while they were on the open sea. However, the plan nearly backfired when Marcus and his pirate companions outwitted the serpent, but the serpent managed to break free eventually and did flee with its prey...except that prey ended up being Marcus himself who sacrificed himself to prevent the beast from taking Dusk as well. Angered by Tizheruk's failure, Vellamo nevertheless resolved to see her plans to the very end. She deduced that the pirates would continue their mission and try to rescue both Marcus and Unithien, and that way they would enter Devilfish Strait just as she had planned. However, the harpies who protected the strait could pose a challenge, so Vellamo used what power she could muster to help disorient the harpies and thus give the pirates a fighting chance so they could reach her lair mostly intact. While the pirates braved the horrors of the strait, Vellamo focused on conversing with Unithien. Sensing the cleric's kindness, the siren used soothing words to win the half-elf over to her side by explaining her and the hatchlings' sad story. Unithien decided to help her out, particularly when Vellamo taught her things about magic she had never known before, helping the cleric to control the power within. Confrontation in the Cave More info later. Aliases and Nicknames ; Beguiler of Hearts : One of the nicknames attributed to her by sailors. ; Temptress of the Strait : One of the nicknames attributed to her by sailors. Appearance She is a serpentine, humanoid creature with an unsettling yet somewhat beautiful look. She can use her magic to mask her true self and appear as a beautiful, lean maiden with silver hair and alluring, blue eyes. Her exposure to the Eye of Thunder's leeching power has taken a toll on her body, and she claims that she's become but a withered shadow of her former, gorgeous self. Personality and Traits Determined, persuasive, protective, reclusive, vengeful. Powers and Abilities She knows songs of power as a bard and can use them to appear in a more alluring form as well as enthrall and catch her prey. It is said in old tales that her songs affect men more than women. Relationships Oscar Locke At first Oscar was quite confrontational while in Vellamo's presence due to her having nearly led the crews to their deaths but, after hearing her side of the story, he eventually decided to give her a chance to prove herself. Despite the awkwardness that ensued, Vellamo chose to comply to Oscar's wishes, and Oscar even went as far as to defend her from Tiamat's wrath after she had led the fellowship to the goddess's hidden sanctum. Once all was said and done, Oscar and Vellamo parted ways, both of them changed by the encounter with the other. Unithien Earthhaven Vellamo, goaded by the whispers in her dreams and in the Eye of Thunder, masterminded the kidnapping of Unithien whom her serpents brought to the siren's cave. Using the powers of the Eye, she helped unlock the power Unithien was trying to keep in check while making her become aware of what she had gotten herself into. This resulted in Unithien feeling compassion towards the vengeful siren but also turned her more cold-hearted towards the kinds of people she felt had betrayed her trust. What Vellamo did to Unithien ended up having far-reaching consequences. See also *Devilfish Strait *Eyes of the Storm *Haietlik *Lebenslied *Oscar Locke *Tizheruk *Unithien Earthhaven Category:Characters Category:Sirens Category:Third Age Category:Yamato